In his editorial that was posted on The Guardian's website, Sweeney was critical of UWP apps only being available from the Windows Store by default, and not from third-party stores and websites. He feared that will make Windows more of a "closed garden" for PC developers.

On his Twitter account, Spencer stated:

"Windows has always been an open ecosystem welcoming the contributions of hardware and software partners, and will always continue to be. UWP is a fully open ecosystem, available to every developer, and can be supported by any store. Broad range of tools. We will discuss our next steps with the Universal Windows Platform at //build later this month."

Spencer also responded to a couple of fan's questions concerning Sweeney's statements;

"@TimSweeneyEpic is a friend and he pushes for what he believes. I agree UWP has to be open and that's what we are doing."

"The feedback is great, even when it's negative, I read it and it impacts our plans. Thanks for being vocal."